Neel Kashkari, the fox appointed to
guard the henhouse and front the multi-trillion dollar bailout, faced
angry questions from Dennis Kucinich and Rep. Darrell Issa during a
hearing today, as Issa accused him of playing a "bait and switch"
game with taxpayers' money.

All the major networks carried footage
of the U.S. House subcommittee hearing this morning and aired Kashkari's
opening statement in full. But as soon as Kucinich and Issa were about
to weigh in, the networks almost simultaneously cut the feed and moved
on to a different story. Another example of how the corporate media
is owned by the same elite that runs the Federal Reserve.

Kucinich accused Paulson and Bush of
circumventing Congress by completely changing the destination of where
the bailout money would go and refusing to disclose what
had happened to $2 trillion dollars of taxpayer money, adding, "I
think it's fairly obvious that Congress would have never passed the
[rescue plan] had it known how Treasury would marshal the resources
it was given."

"We are using all the tools available to ease
the credit crises," Kashkari said. "Let me give you an example..."

Kucinich interrupted Kashkari and continued his
harangue.

"Maybe this is a game to some people in the
administration. They're on their way out of office and they can do
whatever they want," said Kucinich who tried to launch impeachment
proceedings against Bush. "Meanwhile, people are hoping against
hope" for help with their mortgages.

Kashkari tried to explain why the $700 billion
was not used to buy troubled mortgages, but Kucinich would hear none
of it.

Shortly after, Rep. Darrell Issa told
Kashkari, "You're here today because Congress is convinced you
played a bait-and-switch and you're not doing anything to convince us
otherwise," accusing the former Goldman Sachs executive of playing
"ring around the rosie" with their questions.

Others slammed Kashkari for the administration's
agenda of helping banks while abandoning consumers.

"Secretary Paulson's policy reversal
breaks with Congressional intent, contradicts public assurances previously
made by Treasury, and leaves the federal government without an adequate
mechanism to stem a tide of home foreclosures," said Kucinich.

"Thus, the only significant use by Treasury
of the funds Congress authorized to address the mortgage crisis underlying
the financial crisis includes, among other things, propping up a Beverly
Hills banker to the stars; subsidizing the evisceration of National
City Bank and the laying-off of thousands of Clevelanders who worked
there; and indirectly funding the payment of bonuses, compensation,
and dividends by financial firms that could not have afforded to make
them without the TARP capital infusion," Kucinich continued.